Steel My Heart Away
by The Dark Knight's Revenge
Summary: When a mother/daughter boxing duo lose everything when Atom destroys their robot in the rnig, Charlie and Max take them in. Will this give Charlie a chance to start over and Max an opportunity for his first girlfriend? Or will the two families tear apart?


Max Kenton walked through the robot shop of the Detroit Wrestleplex, a smirk on his face and 30,000 dollars in his pocket. At thirteen, he was the youngest champion bot controller in the game.

"Hey, kiddo" His father said as he walked up. Max handed over half the wad of bills he had collected, and Charlie ruffled his hair.

They Kenton boys had a good life. They ran a bot training school outside of Detroit and fought Atom only when they were short on money. Max studied mechanics and math on his computer, and usually ended up teaching Charlie everything he learned.

It wasn't anything like what his life would have been ike if he had gone to live with his aunt, but he would take Charlie's truck bed over the posh mansion any day.

Max walked alongside his father, noticing with a smirk that he was almost taller. In the past two years he had shot up like weed and gotten to be quite handsome. At every fight there were at least three starry eyed girls begging for his autograph, which he shyly gave to them.

"Max Kenton?" A female voice asked, speaking of...

Max turned, his eyes instantly bugging out of his head. In front of him stood a tall brunette woman dressed in an extremely low cut t-shirt and short shorts. Max swallowed and took another look at her face. She looked pissed.

"You the owner of Atom?" Her bright green eyes narowed. Charlie snickered.

"I-I am" Max tried to sound confident.

"Then I got somethin' to say to you kid. You're a dead beat. Next time I meet you in the ring, i'm beatin' you up for good"

A hover cart pulled up, carrying the remains of Atom's fight.

"I-I.. I'm sorry?" Max offered as the woman grabbed him by the shirt collar.

"You better be, kid. Some people need the money more than you" With that, she dropped him and stalked off, taking her robot with her. As soon as she was out of earshot, Charlie bent over laughing.

"Boy, kid. She told you" He eked out.

"It's not funny" Max growled, fishing in his pocket for the remaining wad of bills. He then set off in the direction the woman had gone.

"Whoa, whoa. Max, what are you doing?" Charlie asked, hauling him back by the back of his shirt.

"I'm gonna give her my earnings. I don't need it" Max said. "i've still got money from the last fight"

"Forget it, kid. If you start doing that, then everyone will come on to you looking for a handout. No. We are going home" Charlie tried to turn on his heel and drag Max with him, but the younger boy ducked under his arm and ran off.

"Freaking kid" Charlie growled as he watched his son run away.

Max jogged through the garage, following the trail of fresh grease from the destroyed robot. He finally found the wreckage of what HAD been Chopper, his opponent, in a seemingly deserted repairing bay.

"Hello?" Max called tentatively, keeping an eye out for the scary woman. When she didn't jump out at him, claws unsheathed, Max sat down on an empty workbench to await her return.

He sat in silence for a couple seconds, drumming his fingers on the wood bench as he thought.

"Hey, kid. You lookin' for me?" Max jumped, falling off his bench onto the floor. His eyes went to the brunette head that was poking out from under the destroyed robot.

"Um, hi?" Max said. The girl under the robot scooted herself out from under the hunk of metal on a skateboard, kicking the board aside when she stood back up.

"You looking for me or my mom, kid?" The girl asked. Max found himself utterly speechless.

The girl standing in front of him looked nothing like her harpie of a mother. She was shorter than him, with long brown waves for hair and light blue eyes. Her face was thin, but still soft. The girl was dressed in short shorts and a white shirt with a ripped jean jacket over.

"Er... You, I guess" Max finally stuttered. The girl raised an eyebrow.

"Aren't you the kid who runs Atom?" She asked. Max nodded, not expecting a wrench to come flying at his head two seconds later.

"You jackass! We had everything bet on you losing, and you had to go and win!" The girl screeched at him. Max ducked the flying arsenal that began to rain towards him. When the girl reached for part of Chopper's arm, he held up his hands for mercy.

"Wait, wait. Please stop. I'm here to give you something!" Max yelled, narrowly avoiding the last wrench. The girl paused, one hand on Chopper's arm circuit.

Max hesitantly drew the wad of money out of his pocket, holding it in front of him. The girl snatched it from him, silently counting the bills.

"What's this?" She asked, eyes narrowed. Her likeness to her mother was uncanny.

"A gift?" Max asked, taking a hasty step back.

"Keep it, I don't want your money" The girl said, tossing the bills at his feet. Max bent to retrieve them.

"You sure?" He asked as he straightened up, flicking his long blonde hair to the side. "It could get you through for a couple months..." The girl looked like she desperately wanted to take it, but her pride prevailed.

"No. You keep it" She said. The two stood there staring at each other for a moment, before Max shook himself, clearing his throat.

"I'm Max" He said, extending his hand.

"Maggie" She replied, shaking it. Her hand was surprisingly soft for a mechanic. Maggie bent to pick up one of the wrenches she had thrown at Max, and her companion scrambled for the others. When finished, they set them on Max's bench.

"So, um.. You in town long?" Max asked.

"Only as long as my mom decides we will be. Got to go where the fight is... Though I think Chopper's dead for good" She gestured at the destroyed robot, who was leaking oil onto the floor as a steady rate.

"Sorry about that" Max said awkwardly, scratching his head. "Look, are you sure you don't want the money? It could buy you a new bot" Maggie bit her lip.

"That's nice of you, but I feel bad taking it from you" Max sighed, ruffling his hair then putting the money away.

"Well, while you're in town, why don't you at least stay at our place for a few days? We might have some spare parts for chopped you could have cheap"

"If mom says yes, then I say hell yes. I'm tired of sleeping in a truck" Maggie laughed. Max fished in his wallet for the Bot school's business card.

"Come by anytime" He said, managing to wink. Maggie smiled.

"I'll see you around then, Max" She said, putting the card in her pocket.

"Yeah, see you" He replied before turning and beginning to walk back to Charlie. As he went he couldn't resist letting a little spring into his step.

Sure, her mother was a harpy, and sure, they had destroyed her robot, but Maggie was the hottest girl he had ever seen. Maybe his big mouth had gotten him somewhere after all.

Charlie was going to kill him.


End file.
